In a telephone network, a network cable from the central office is connected to a building entrance protector (BEP) located at the customer site, where the individual telephone lines are broken out line by line. The network cable, which consist of a plurality of tip-ring wire pairs that each represent a telephone line, is typically connected to a connector block that is an integral part of the BEP. Such connectors may be, for example, the ubiquitous 66-type punch down connector, or an SC 99 type connector block, such as are available from Lucent Technologies Inc., or the mini rocker tool-less insulation displacement (IDC) type connector, such as for example those sold by A. C. Egerton, Ltd. Other connectors used for telephony wiring applications are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,662,699 to Vachhani et al., dated May 5, 1987, and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,611,264 to Ellis, dated Oct. 5, 1971.
A mini-rocker connector generally has a movable top section which comprises two generally tapered, funnel-shaped wire insertion holes and a lower fixed section which houses a pair of terminal strips. The terminal strips have a wire engaging portion at one end for engaging and making electrical contact with a wire. The terminal strips are generally parallel to one another but offset to provide a sufficient dielectric strength between them. In order to make the connector as small as possible, as a matter of design choice, the terminal strips are moved as close together as possible while maintaining good dielectric strength.
The top movable section of the connector pivots about a fixed axis located towards the back side of the connector. The top section has a movable latch member to maintain the top section in its closed position. To open the top section, a user releases the latch member and pivots the top section to its open position. When the top section is open, the terminal strips do not intersect the wire insertion holes, and when the top section is closed, the terminal strips intersect the wire insertion holes. In order to establish an electrical connection between the wires and the terminal strips a user first opens the top section, i.e., pivots the top section to its open position, inserts the pair of wires, and then closes the top section. Upon closing the top section of the connector, the wires are forced through the terminal strip engaging portion to make electrical and mechanical contact with the terminal strips. To remove the wires and/or break the electrical connection, the process is reversed.
The prior art connector is designed such that the top section pivots upwards an amount such that the entrance apertures and wire insertion holes becomes more visible. One of skill in the art will recognize that the more visible the entrance aperture, the less time it takes for a user to perform the required task. The visibility is evaluated by the size the entrance apertures appears to a user in a typical installation. When the top section of the prior art connector is in its closed position, the entrance apertures appear as flat ovals and are thus perceived as smaller than they really are.
Were the wire insertion holes to be moved closer together, the entrance apertures would have to be made smaller or made to overlap, which would result in even greater difficulty in wiring the connector and hence a longer wiring time by the user or technician. In the prior art connector the front face of the connector in which the entrance apertures are formed is flat or perpendicular to the direction of the wire insertion holes. Thus, when viewed from the side, the prior art entrance aperture forms a trapezoid, with the front and back planes being substantially parallel to one another. One of skill in the art will recognize that the size of the prior art connector cannot be easily reduced without the undesired result of having the entrance apertures overlap. Also, the visibility of the prior art entrance apertures is limited by the degree of pivot of the connector top section. The present invention is directed at overcoming shortcomings of the prior art connectors.